After picking up some steam by taking two of three against the Washington Nationals, the Miami Marlins took on the Minnesota Twins on the road for the first of a three-game series. Unfortunately, the Marlins’ winning ways stopped at two games despite a masterful performance from Eury Perez.
Starting pitching has been a strength for the Marlins this season thus far, with both top pitchers Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez, pitching well enough for Miami to earn wins. However, just because their pitching has been effective doesn’t mean that success is being met after all 27 outs.
Perez Takes Home a Frustrating Loss
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Pérez (39) looks on during a replay against the Minnesota Twins. | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
Perez has been a tad shaky to start the season, but he gave the Marlins one of the best starts of the young campaign. Pitching in six innings, allowing just three runs on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts, Perez pitched strongly enough for Miami to continue its winning streak.
Taking a look at the opposite side of the scorecard, the Marlins offense was nowhere to be found against Minnesota starter Bailey Ober. Ober pitched a complete game shutout against Miami, striking out seven and allowing just two hits, without walking a soul.
Jakob Marsee and Kyle Stowers did what they could to help Perez’s strong effort, but came up short against the dominant pitching. Perez has shown that he can keep the team in games, but it takes two sides to bring home a victory, and getting two hits isn’t going to get the job done.
Miami Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee (87) catches a fly ball against the Minnesota Twins. | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
Taking close losses might hurt worse than getting blown out. To add insult to injury, the Twins’ pitching staff has been performing near the bottom of Major League Baseball, ranking 24th in team ERA with a 4.51.
The identity of success for the Marlins is that they get victories by being scrappy at the plate. One of the better contact-hitting teams in the last few seasons, Miami doesn’t hit a lot of home runs and relies on starts like Perez had on Tuesday to get the job done.
Learning to play better on the road is crucial for the Marlins if chasing down the Atlanta Braves in the NL East is the goal they have their sights set on.
Now, the players have to refocus on the task still at hand: winning the series. Max Meyer is listed for game two and is set to take on Simeon Woods Richardson, who has struggled this season thus far. Robby Snelling will take the bump to close the series out against Connor Prielipp
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